The challenge: Produce a cleaner-running snowmobile. Groups of engineering students from 13 universities across the United States and Canada did just that in the Society of Automotive Engineers Snowmobile Challenge, and met recently in Houghton, Mich., to run their sleds through many tests.
The winner? The University of Buffalo, Suny, followed by Clarkston University-Potsdam, NY, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The more than 132 students presented 13 different designs that were tested through events like a 100-mile endurance run, fuel economy checks, emissions and sound tests, and many subjective handling and curb appeal tests. A new rider comfort evaluation also was added this year.
This was the 6th annual SAE Snowmobile Challenge, and the event is scheduled again in 2006 and 2007. The Big Four participated in the event, run by Michigan Tech University and the Keweenaw Research Center, as well. More information is available at
www.sae.org and
www.mtukrc.org